


05 Lily finding about Remus/Animagi

by siriuslychessi



Series: Twitter Jilytober 2018 [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-17 09:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20618684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siriuslychessi/pseuds/siriuslychessi





	05 Lily finding about Remus/Animagi

Blood, blood everywhere, that’s how the morning after the full moon had found James and his friends. He didn’t understand what had happened, how it had happened, usually the wolf didn’t attack them, it was used to their smell and behaviour, yet that night... Merlin, how did they had survived it all?

James didn’t blame it on Remus, he knew fair well that if his mate remembered anything he would put the blame on himself without any help but they needed to see what was affecting the wolf for next moon, they needed a better plan because this clearly wasn't working.

Doing a mental check on his injuries; what they could heal, what they needed help with; he approached Remus and gave his assessment. Remus was unconscious, like most mornings after, and his body was covered in scratches and a few puncture wounds from Prongs’ antlers, nothing deadly but he needed healing, and nothing seemed to be too badly broken to be concerning which made James sigh and wince painfully as adrenaline started to wear off and his body started to protest.

James was ready to find their potions and clothes for Remus so he’ll be decent when Poppy came for him when he heard a gasp behind him. “Prongs...” the shaky voice of Peter reached his ears and he turned to see that Sirius was still in his dog form bleeding from a bite to his side. James couldn’t remember when that happened, was it when he took Moony of Padfoot? After? It there was a big commotion and his mind was just trying to come up with a way to heal Sirius in his dog form.

The shine of the sun on the broken mirror in the room reminded James that it was morning, and by then they would be gone, yet today they weren’t. He looked at himself, his clothes were a mess and if he went to the castle he would rise more questions than anything so instead he looked at Peter, he was a little shaken and his clothes were far from perfect but all in all he could blame it on the tunnel, Poppy knew they helped Remus get to the Hospital Wing when he couldn’t so it wouldn’t be too suspicious. “I’ll take him upstairs, you need to clean the blood a bit and go find Poppy, we can’t... we can’t heal all of this.” he admitted to his friend that nodded as they both stood up.

Moving his wand James made Padfoot’s body float over the stairs and into the farther room on the second flood, placing him as gently as he could over the bed and summoning the bag they had hidden in there for suck cases, it had a change of clothes, potions and bandages, even a few snacks, perfect to patch things up before returning to the castle. They barely used it because ever since the wolf got used to them all they did was play and explore but today he was glad they had it.

Gently he put his hand on Padfoot’s neck, feeling warmth beneath the fur and faint breathing which calmed his nerves a bit but Sirius needed to change back for the potions to take full effect, they learned about human healing, animals... well, they weren’t exactly animals but James hadn’t gone that far just yet. “Pads, come on, wake up, mate.” he talked shaking his friend lightly, maybe he could have enough energy to change back? Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he thought? “Sirius, please... I just need you to change back, mate, this is... this is new... I’ve just learned how to trim your nails without hurting you, you can’t ask me to heal you like this.” he pleaded once more getting a bit more desperate because an unconscious Sirius wasn’t a good signal.

Get it together, James, no one is helping if they start panicking. He reminded himself trying to swallow the tears that threatened to come out and the abysmal worry so he could actually do something to help his mate, his brother. Sirius would get through it, he would wake up and just lick his face like he did every time he slept as Padfoot. It’d be okay.

It was more like his hands remembered what to do than his mind, he cleaned the wound the best he could by wand, and looked in the bag for the potions that would help the cicatrizing process, some balms and everything that he could recall. Carefully he tried to make Padfoot swallow the healing potion before moving to his side dabbing the wound with a balm that would help the process. The problem was that Sirius’ animagus form was massive and the potions were running short.

Remembering the second stash they had at the Forbidden Forest he looked at his friend once more, it seemed that the bleeding was stopping but with cursed wounds he wasn’t sure if it’ll work as smoothly. “I’ll be right back, Sirius, don’t move please.” he pleaded not sure that he was being heard but he couldn’t think of the alternative. Losing Sirius wasn’t an option, he couldn’t even think of the possibility, it hurt too much.

Lily Evans found herself sleepless that particular morning, she wasn’t sure how it had happened but it did and now she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. She had studied for all the test and decided that that morning she wouldn’t dwell on anxious thoughts but rather on the nostalgia of another year almost coming to an end, a year that would be her second to last at Hogwarts and next year with tests and the future lurking she wasn’t sure she would be able to enjoy the castle as much. 

On that mindset she started her path towards the grounds. At that particular hour the grounds were deserted, most students were still trying to hold their comfy beds a little longer before another day of full schedules and lessons started. She felt at ease that she wasn’t actually breaking the rules but felt a bit daring and walked near the Forest’s lines. She was enjoying the cool breeze and dew covered grass, thinking of her summer and how much she would love it, even though she would miss the castle, when she saw a familiar figure coming from the trees and going towards the Whopping Willow.

Now, Lily knew that James Potter was an ass, a daredevil but he wasn’t an idiot, she didn’t think that Potter would actually go near the devilish boxing tree, not after what it did to Remus last time they tried this little game, however James was coming closer to the tree by the second and Lily couldn’t help but scream “What the fuck are you doing?!”

James was too focused on reaching the willow before Poppy got there, he needed to get to Padfoot as soon as he could and if the matron was in the middle of the living room of the Shrieking Shack he wouldn’t be able to heal his friend in time before something more horrid happened. That was the reason he flinched at Lily’s exclamation and just turned with a confused expression, like a deer in the headlights, not expecting the redhead addressing him and much less coming towards him in the middle of grounds at early morning.

“I, uh…” he started to reply, trying to come up with something that sounded plausible but his brain was just focused on his friends and on the time passing by.

“Do you have a death wish or have so many Bludgers hit your head that you can’t not think properly?” Lily was worried, it seemed that James wasn’t the same ball of energy he usually was, he seemed a bit shaken and… was that blood? she didn’t noticed the blood on his shirt and hands when she was so far away, but the closer she got the clearer it was that something had already happened. “What happened? Are you injured?”

James wasn’t used to Lily being worried, not with him, the bickered and, recently, joked around but they didn’t have that kind of relationship yet where they expressed more deep feelings that a shared joke and passing agreement. This took James out of his reverie and focused on the bag on his hand and the task to perform. 

“It’s not mine.” He replied quickly and looked back at the castle where at any minute Peter would come with Madame Pomfrey and at his clock. They were cutting it short. “Look, Evans, I don’t have time to explain right now, I really need to go, please go back to the castle and I’ll explain everything, I promise, but right now I can’t.” He admitted sincerely and struggled to get his want out of his pocket, adrenaline was running low again and he couldn’t help but shake at the thought of Remus and Sirius injured at the Shack.

Lily looked at James and frowned, this wasn’t his usual self, something had happened and she wasn’t going to let it go that easily, the fact that it wasn’t his blood didn’t matter, this wasn’t something casual, nor a prank. This was something serious. “I won’t go anywhere, Potter, you clearly have a death wish going against the willow, I can’t leave you like this.” she motioned to him fully making James sigh. 

James looked at Lily and then at the willow, back to his watch, he didn’t have time to argue. “I’m not fighting against the damn thing.” he replied a bit annoyed but, more than anything, frustrated with the whole thing. He took his and and summoned a branch to hit the knot of the tree with making it stop and looking at Lily. “There, now you know it can’t harm me, could you please go back to the castle and I’ll explain later, please?” he pleaded like he never had, he was too proud to ask for this, at least in Lily’s eyes, but he would do anything for Remus –and an unconscious Sirius–, Lily couldn’t find out, not like this. 

Lily looked at James and then at the willow, it was frozen, like any other tree, this was the first time in all her Hogwarts’ years that she had seen it static. She was about to reply to James when she saw him looking at the castle and exclaiming a “Bloody hell!” under his breath, before looking back at her, “Don’t have time to explain, Evans, I’ll see you later.” and with that, James started to run towards the roots of the Whomping Willow and entered a well hidden tunnel. 

James walked as fast as he could into the tunnel, he knew the tunnels like the back of his hand, he used them every month to get in and out in the middle of the night since second year. He was so used to them that he didn’t need his wand to light the path and he was so focused on getting to Sirius that it took him a minute to realize that there was light inside the tunnel. 

“Who is injured and how did you know there was a tunnel below the tree?” a female voice was heard behind James, which made him jump and hit his head. 

“Fuck, Evans, why can’t you just, for once, do as I ask?!” he said rubbing his head and looking back at her, “You can’t be here, it’s dangerous, and… bloody hell, you just can’t be here!” he exclaimed quietly looking at her and then at the end of the tunnel. He wasn’t worried about her, the full moon had passed and she was in no danger but the implications on what would happen to Remus if another student found out about his condition… James didn’t want to think about it.

“You don’t think I can handle myself?” she asked arching an eyebrow and shaking her head disapprovingly. 

“Not everything is about you, you know?” he replied in the same manner, “You can’t be here, I shouldn’t be here, but if they find you… If…” he started but then shook his head and sighed, “You just can’t. This is not a preference of mine. You need to go back to the castle.” He instructed even though he saw the expression on her face that said she wouldn’t go anywhere.

“It’s obvious you can’t handle this on your own. If someone is injured you’ll need help, you need to call Madame Pomfrey-“

“She’s on her way. And she can’t find you here. Don’t you see? If they find you here there would be a lot more trouble than it needs to be…” he pulled his hair, starting to get frustrated. Sirius was bleeding out and Lily couldn’t find about Remus like this. Remus would hate himself forever.

“Is Remus, isn’t it? He’s the one injured? Last night was a full moon.” She replied simply, like it was the worst kept secret in the entire Hogwarts history.

“You know.” It wasn’t a question, just a statement, a realization that she was the brightest witch he had ever met.

“Severus thought so, I always thought he was crazy, but after some Prefect round’s schedules it wasn’t hard to figure out.” She replied with a shrug.

James was about to nod and let her know it was all fine when he heard the voices.

“It was my turn to check on Remus, Sirius and James had a late detention and are snoring…” it was Pete’s voice at the other end of the tunnel with Madame Pomfrey.

“They’ll expel Remus if they find you here, put that out.” He instructed desperately, “I’ll explain the rest but she can’t find us put here.” He promised once more and this time she believed him. 

James guided her towards the trap door at the end of the tunnel. She saw Remus on the floor and gasped at how pale and injured he looked. “Poppy will heal him. Come.” He said quietly and hurried her upstairs to a bedroom, closing the door behind them. Padfoot was still on the bed passed out. 

James put some silencing charms on the walls so the people downstairs didn’t hear them; then he checked the dog’s vitals and it seemed that Padfoot was breathing a little better even if he wasn’t awake. “You got me scared for a bit.” He said to the dog more than to the redhead leaving the bag full of potions on the bed, taking them out to check what else he could give the animagus to make him wake a change back.

“Did… did Remus do this?” Lily asked looking at the injured dog and at James. Lily knew about werewolves but until she saw the damage she didn’t  _ know _ what they could actually do.

“No,.” James replied simply before sighing, “the wolf did, Remus wouldn’t harm anyone like this.” He explained finding the potion and looking at the fellow Gryffindor, “He will say this is his fault, he’ll crumble with guilt but this is not Remus. No matter what people like to think.”

Lily nodded, still pale, letting the words sink in. “Why don’t you let Poppy heal the dog as well?” If this was about healing the dog so Remus wouldn’t feel guilty Poppy could do it, right?

“She cannot find out about it.” James replied simply, not demanding, just stating the obvious. Slowly the bespectacled man took the bandages from the injuries and cleaned them again, reapplying the healing balm and closing the wounds again so Padfoot would stop bleeding altogether.

“And why not? Would they send Remus to jail for biting a dog too?” She asked genuinely worried about her friend moving to the head of the animal and stroking its fur softly.

James looked at her briefly before looking for another potion. “They might, people have a lot of prejudices against werewolves.” He added with a shrug carefully taking the potion out and moving the dog’s head up to make it drink it.

“That is not going to fix a body as big as his.” Lily pointed trying to help somehow making James nod, sitting back on the bed looking at Padfoot. “I know I just want to heal him enough.” He just needed to heal him enough to change back but Lily would be gone by then, she could leave as soon as Poppy reached a good distance from the willow.

“You mean enough to hang until Pomfrey leaves and we take him to a vet, right?” Lily replied deciding that she would help Remus even with just this. The biy she saw downstairs had enough with the monthly transformations.

“We?” James asked not sure if he heard correctly, “Of course enough to make him get better help.” He half lied because he couldn’t take Padfoot to a vet, that wasn’t how he would be healed, would it?

It didn’t matter what James think because at that precise moment a little whine escaped Sirius and all his attention centered on his best mate. “Thank Godric.” he exclaimed looking at the dog that instead of just looking around and check he just transformed back into a battered teen with big bandages around various places.

“Sirius?!” Lily asked not sure what she was seeing but that couldn’t be it, Sirius was barely 17, he couldn’t be an animagus, could he?

Sirius wasn’t thinking he transformed back, he just remembered that if the dog was hurting he needed to go back so he could be healed. He didn’t notice that with James was also an outsider that didn’t have the slightest clue on what was he and she wasn’t supposed to know, and at the moment he couldn’t care less about it because his body ached like it hadn’t done in a while. 

James on the other hand was split between explaining things to Lily and fixing Sirius’ injuries. He needed to act quickly and now that his friend was in human form he could heal him quicker. He took his wand a cleaned the wounds once more, placing a good charm on the bandages so they wouldn’t fall and make Sirius take a blood replenishing potion and healing potion letting his mate rest on the bed as he found the words to explain the madness to the redhead. 

“He needs to go to Madame Pomfrey, you can’t leave him here!” Lily protested making Sirius groan and James frown, Sirius needed to rest and Lily wasn’t helping. Also, didn’t she understand what taking Sirius to Pomfrey would mean?

“We can’t do that, Remus will be expelled, we all would. And we will be thrown to jail, and I do not want to go to jail. Remus will be shove to Azkabn’s darkest cell and after all he’s been through he doesn’t deserve this, so no, Sirius will heal here and you won’t say anything about the bloody ordeal. He’ll be fine by tonight.”

“He’s been bitten by a fucking werewolf! He’s not fine!” Lily yelled trying to convey how fucked up this was, how could James let his best mate suffer like this.

“He’s bitten every fucking month, we all have, he’s been worse, Evans, we know what we are doing. Animals can’t be affected by werewolves’ bites, he just needs to sleep it off.” He explained annoyed with her superiority like they didn’t know better, of course they knew, they spend every month with Remus and the wolf, they had all been through this, this wasn’t his first full moon and wouldn’t be the last.

“What do you mean you have as well? Isn’t Sirius…” finally Lily’s brain caught up, it all made sense, how they turned to class half beaten and half asleep. She always thought that they just did it so it wasn’t so obvious Remus was missing because of the full moon, but now… “Since when?”

“Beginning of fifth year, so almost two years.” he replied resting his back on the headboard looking at her, letting Sirius rest, the potions would work their effect and he would be fine by the evening.

“Why all the trouble? He could kill you?” She asked more curious than anything, not everyone will do this for a friend. Most friendships were based on a shallow prospect of keeping each other secrets and that was about it. 

“Each month Remus came back worse than the last, we found out about his furry little problem in second year and after a while he told us that when he’s alone the wolf bites himself, he looks for something to hunt and harm and… well it wasn’t pretty. So we thought of a way to help him, we can not take his lycanthropy away but we can help make it less painful.” he shrugged checking in Sirius and then back at Lily, “As I’ve mentioned animals can’t be affected by the bite, it stings and is a hell to heal but that’s about it. With time the wolf knew us and we were like a pack, we can even take him hunting hares in the Forbidden Forest far from the castle, but last night…” he shook his head and looked a this bloody hands, “It was like back at the beginning, the wolf was too restless. He attacked Padfoot and then… well…” he motioned to Sirius, “I’m thankful I could take him off Sirius.”

“You are bigger than Sirius?” The dog was massive and a full grown werewolf was as big as a bear, so that took a lot of force to confront it.

James chuckled humorlessly at the innuendo joke Sirius would make on the question and nodded. “You could say that, I’m a big stag, I have horns, this tends to win many arguments on full moons.” he replied looking at her trying to assess if she was going to tell on them or not. If she kept Remus secret he wasn’t sure she would go ratting them out just yet. “So, what do you say, Evans, can you keep a secret?” he asked hoping she would say yes because he couldn’t fret with another person to keep his guard on.

Lily was silent for a moment, the last thing she expected for this day was to get involved in this, it was a lot of information to take, but what caught her by surprise the most wasn’t how Remus looked after the full moon, or the damage the wolf could cause, but how three boys could go to this length to help a fellow friend. It made Lily see James, Sirius and Peter in a different light than before.

James was starting to worry, she was about to tell the universe their best kept secret and that was because of his clumsy ass, he should have done something else, to avoid her somehow. At the panicking moment he even considered hexing her and running, but that didn’t seem like a proper way to deal with everything they had to handle, did it? Maybe it was the lack of sleep or the adrenaline wearing off but the moment seemed to extend forever and he just wanted to know if he should prepared for the dementors or not.

“That depends, Potter,” Lily replied, James swallowed hard, “Do I get to know what Peter is, or you ashamed that he’s bigger than you and don’t want to share?” she tried lightening the mood with a small joke and sat on the other side of Sirius, she still had a lot of questions but she knew that she couldn’t reveal their secret.


End file.
